Counter claim for harrasment from landlord

confusedkiwi

Tenancy was in England. Deposit paid over six years ago,but no prescribed information received but didn’t know this until last year when checking the validity of the section 21. 

Bit of a complex one so please bear with me. I moved out of a rented property late last year after various issues with the landlord,section 21 (invalid,no prescribed information) and section 8 (invalid as there were no rent arrears). I received a letter before action via email (LL doesn’t have my new address) claiming rent arrears (four months,but they also got my deposit awarded to them,so if the arrears are correct,it would only be less than two months arrears but I’m waiting on copies of bank statements). The letter contains lots of false information and I can prove otherwise that what they claim is incorrect. 

The LL kept letting themselves into the property (garden and house) commenting on the way I lived my life (yes I’m a bit messy,yes I get behind with housework but I work long hours) and him and his wife left abusive notes through the door about how much of a bad tenant I was, how I was causing trouble and various other accusations that were untrue and unfounded - this seemed to be a response to my written request for 24 hours notice as in the tenancy agreement as I had enough at this point. Also being called a bad tenant was upsetting as I had looked after the property as if it was my own,there was no damage,no issues with inspections and I carried out most repairs myself - they were fully aware of this and I picked up all the costs for the repairs. I know I probably can’t claim the costs back though.  The ongoing issues with my landlord took its toll on my mental health to the point I ended up on medication and missed a lot of work due to being signed off work - I lost a significant amount of earnings due to this. Would I have a counter claim for this? My loss of earnings is over £2k. Everything else in my life was manageable,and my doctor noted my landlords behaviour as the trigger for my mental health issues. Due to the amount of time I had off over the year that this was going on,I was issued an ultimatum by my boss that I had to move or risk loosing my job because of the time I had off. I ended up moving out and in with family because I didn’t want to loose my job.

The landlords solicitor sent me a letter before I gave notice to quit saying they’d repay my deposit and they never did. Is this something I could still pursue? 

Thank you for reading if you got that far! Any advice would be appreciated. 

anselld

You would probably be better to counter claim for ..

  (a)  non return of deposit

  (b)  incorrect deposit protection, non issue of PIs (which carries a penalty of 1-3x deposit)

.. and at the same time defend against the claim for arrears if there were none.

I think you will have difficulty making a claim for harrasment well after the fact and when you have not reported issues at the time. ( harrasment and illegal eviction are criminal offences and should be reported when they occur)

macman

Above advice is spot on. A claim for loss of earnings due to mental health issue brought on by LL harassment will require professional medical reports and legal advice, and could drag on for years, with no guarantee of judgment in your favour, or eventual recovery. even if you win. For as little as £2k it's really not worth it.
A claim for non-protection is a no-brainer: there is no defence, so you cannot lose as long as there is evidence in your favour. 
In these circumstances, a sensible LL will pay up upon receipt of a suitably worded LBA.

steampowered

In essence, you want to sue your landlord for harassment because they kept letting themselves into the property in breach of the tenancy agreement. 

You can pursue a claim like that but I don't think you would be awarded much compensation for it.

On the deposit, what exactly did the letter from your landlord's solicitors say? I am not sure you can realistically expect to get your deposit back if there were 4 months rent arrears.

confusedkiwi

steampowered said:

In essence, you want to sue your landlord for harassment because they kept letting themselves into the property in breach of the tenancy agreement. 

You can pursue a claim like that but I don't think you would be awarded much compensation for it.

On the deposit, what exactly did the letter from your landlord's solicitors say? I am not sure you can realistically expect to get your deposit back if there were 4 months rent arrears.

The letter admits that there were issues with the protection of the deposit and offered the full deposit back but it was never returned. I’m disputing the arrears as I’m pretty certain there are no arrears and even if there was,it’s nowhere near the amount they are claiming as the dps allowed the landlord to keep the full deposit even though I disputed it.

confusedkiwi

anselld said:

You would probably be better to counter claim for ..

  (a)  non return of deposit

  (b)  incorrect deposit protection, non issue of PIs (which carries a penalty of 1-3x deposit)

.. and at the same time defend against the claim for arrears if there were none.

I think you will have difficulty making a claim for harrasment well after the fact and when you have not reported issues at the time. ( harrasment and illegal eviction are criminal offences and should be reported when they occur)

Ok,thank you! Have I missed the deadline though? The deposit was paid in 2015 so I know it’s six years to claim but I only noticed the issue when the section 21 was served so would I still be able to make a claim on that basis? This was the only place I’ve ever rented in the UK so I’m unsure how it all works

[Deleted User]

confusedkiwi said:

steampowered said:

In essence, you want to sue your landlord for harassment because they kept letting themselves into the property in breach of the tenancy agreement. 

You can pursue a claim like that but I don't think you would be awarded much compensation for it.

On the deposit, what exactly did the letter from your landlord's solicitors say? I am not sure you can realistically expect to get your deposit back if there were 4 months rent arrears.

The letter admits that there were issues with the protection of the deposit and offered the full deposit back but it was never returned. I’m disputing the arrears as I’m pretty certain there are no arrears and even if there was,it’s nowhere near the amount they are claiming as the dps allowed the landlord to keep the full deposit even though I disputed it.

If you disputed the deposit deductions and DPS still awarded the full amount to your landlord then your landlord must have provided DPS with sufficient evidence to prove it was warranted. 

Surely you know how much rent you had to pay during the tenancy and how much you actually paid so you can work out if you are in arrears and if so by how much. 

[Deleted User]

confusedkiwi said:

anselld said:

You would probably be better to counter claim for ..

  (a)  non return of deposit

  (b)  incorrect deposit protection, non issue of PIs (which carries a penalty of 1-3x deposit)

.. and at the same time defend against the claim for arrears if there were none.

I think you will have difficulty making a claim for harrasment well after the fact and when you have not reported issues at the time. ( harrasment and illegal eviction are criminal offences and should be reported when they occur)

Ok,thank you! Have I missed the deadline though? The deposit was paid in 2015 so I know it’s six years to claim but I only noticed the issue when the section 21 was served so would I still be able to make a claim on that basis? This was the only place I’ve ever rented in the UK so I’m unsure how it all works

Maybe, maybe not. You have 6 years from when the ‘cause of action’ arises in which to file a claim. When was the cause of action, the expiry date of the 30 day time limit for compliance or the end of the tenancy when the deposit became repayable to the tenant and possibly the PI issue comes to light? 

It would seem unfair if it’s the former as a tenant could remain in occupation for more than 6 years without realising the landlord was non-compliant until the tenancy comes to an end. The question of the correct limitation period has not been tested in the courts though. 

As your former landlord is already threatening to take you to court I do not see the harm in taking the ‘cause of action’ date to be the date your tenancy ended and threatening to counter-sue. 

https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/how_to_make_a_tenancy_deposit_compensation_claim

I agree with the others that the time to do something about the harassment was during the tenancy so that ship has sailed. 

warwick2001

confusedkiwi said:

steampowered said:

In essence, you want to sue your landlord for harassment because they kept letting themselves into the property in breach of the tenancy agreement. 

You can pursue a claim like that but I don't think you would be awarded much compensation for it.

On the deposit, what exactly did the letter from your landlord's solicitors say? I am not sure you can realistically expect to get your deposit back if there were 4 months rent arrears.

The letter admits that there were issues with the protection of the deposit and offered the full deposit back but it was never returned. I’m disputing the arrears as I’m pretty certain there are no arrears and even if there was,it’s nowhere near the amount they are claiming as the dps allowed the landlord to keep the full deposit even though I disputed it.

You should be able to check if you are in arrears pretty easily. Get bank statements for the time you are querying. If there is a payment going out to the Landlord/agent, you paid that month. If there isn't, you didn't. Work out when you had to pay rent until (up to the point you moved out). Check your bank statements to see if you outgoing payments match this timeframe.

I assume you would check your account balance each month, and would notice if it was much higher than expected? Rent is expensive (sorry, should say rent CAN be expensive), so if you had £x hundred quid more in your account, chances are you didn't pay the rent that month.

As with the other posters here, the harassment case is a non-starter, forget about that. Also, the money you spent on repairs, write that off too. Concentrate on the deposit issue, and the arrears. If you can prove you are in the right for both of these, should be a slam-dunk win for you.

confusedkiwi

Thanks for all the replies so far. As to regards to the arrears,the account that i used for that property was closed so i am waiting on copies of statements. 

with the harrasment,i did send a letter to my landlord regarding this and requested 24 hours notice for visits/inspections/etc and the response to that was a section 21. The harrasment didnt stop and when the landlord was in the property or garden without notice, it was met by another letter requesting notice - these were always polite requests. The landlord knew what he was doing, he admitted it in some of the notes i got and in other notes he said if i didnt reply then he would let himself in even though no specific reason was given. i still have all these notes,so could this support a harrasment claim?  

Slithery

Why did you not change the locks?